Tom Strohl

Business Advisor

Tom Strohl, an Oliver Wight business advisor, is a consultant, coach, and educator providing companies with guidance in Operations Planning and Control and Integrated Business Planning. In a career spanning more than 30 years working in industry, Tom has developed an acute awareness of the need to bring formality and process to both the business systems and the human capital needed to run those systems. He views the readiness of employees to embrace fundamental change in any business process as a critical success factor for sustained excellence.

Specializing in Operations Planning and Control principles, Tom has excelled in business turnaround situations. He has repeatedly used Proven Path tools and concepts to influence companies to formalize systems of control and business processes for Demand, Supply, and Inventory Planning. In every case, this has resulted in the desired improvements in reliability and predictability of product supply, product quality, cycle times, inventory turns, and conversion costs.

Tom led a successful Class A Accreditation effort in Planning and Control for one $200 million business unit of Watson Pharmaceuticals resulting in savings in operating costs and working capital of over $28 million, full alignment of production processes, quality systems and human capital, improved inventory turns, cycle time reduction, scrap reduction, and improved service levels. Immediately following accreditation, Tom then led a successful JD Edwards ERP system implementation. This system implementation was completed in only 9 months, on time and on budget, in a near flawless execution of the implementation plan largely facilitated by the systems of control, business processes, and employee readiness created through the Planning and Control initiatives.

As vice president for Qualitest Pharmaceuticals, Tom led a successful effort to bring Fast Track S&OP/IBP to the business along with implementation of Oliver Wight’s Enterprise Sales and Operations Planning Tool (ESOPT). This resulted in an integrated process for managing demand, supply, and inventory planning, new product development, and financial planning and aligning them with the strategic initiatives of the business.

Tom earned his BS in Business Management from Mankato State University.

Resources Authored by Tom Strohl

Whitepaper

Creating a Win-Win Scenario through Supplier Scheduling

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Whitepaper

Lose Control of the Supply Chain, Lose Control of Compliance

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Video

Plans Are Nothing, Planning is Everything: Are You Prepared to Compete in A...

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